How Facebook boosted this travel pillow business more than TV
Trtl was featured on BBC Two's Dragons' Den, but it was social media which really increased sales
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Corrigan, CEO of Trtl, the travel pillow business, believes that one of his company’s best decisions was turning down a £200,000 investment at the 11th hour — even though it meant having to pay thousands of pounds in legal fees.
“Our gut feeling was that the goals of the investors were not aligned with what we wanted to do,” he says. “We decided to walk away and focus our attention on visiting the travel retail fair at Cannes.”
It was a gamble that paid off. Despite struggling to afford the trip, the wide variety of retailers, distributors and travel bloggers he met in those few days changed the direction of the business and resulted in press coverage.
“That wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t walk away from the money,” he says. “Sales will exceed £10m this year and we haven’t taken any bank finance — there’s just been a bit of an overdraft and the belief to back ourselves.”
Corrigan was inspired to become an entrepreneur after listening to a talk by Sir Tom Farmer, the founder of tyre business Kwik-Fit, when he was studying mechanical engineering at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, in 2009.
However, it was while brainstorming with friends as to how long train journeys could be made more comfortable that a business idea took shape. They eventually came up with the concept of a scarf with a hidden internal neck support.
Although the venture has been featured on a BBC Scotland documentary and on hit TV show Dragons’ Den, social media has arguably played a more significant role over the past few years.
“We were selling around five units every day, but after being featured in an online article this went up to five an hour,” Corrigan explains. “The story was then shared on Facebook and we ended up selling more than 1,000 in eight hours. It was absolutely game-changing.”
The company is poised to sell its one millionth unit this month, and has sent its products into more than 70 countries. A Kickstarter campaign for a fully adjustable version, Trtl Pillow Plus, has already raised more than £180,000 in pledges.
Corrigan insists it’s important to enjoy the process — and never give up. “You need to love the day-to-day grind and realise it’s about the journey,” he says. “It’s also important to find the right people and be clear about your values.”
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